NZXT Kraken X40 & X60 CPU Coolers Review

Closer look at the X60

The X60 is simply a massive 280mm water cooler which uses a radiator that provides a huge amount of surface area but from the tubes on, it uses the same hardware and multi socket mounting system as its smaller X40 sibling. The only difference between X40 and X60 is the inclusion of a second fan and additional mounting hardware to attach four fans.

As with the X40, the X60’s 27mm thick radiator not only has more surface area, but additional water channels which are also longer than any 240mm radiator currently available. For example, a Corsair H100i uses 12 channels which are ~240mm in length while the NZXT Kraken X60 uses 13 water channels which are ~280mm in length. This coupled with the large increase in surface area should translate to best in class cooling abilities.

Unfortunately, the tubing which connects the X60’s impressive radiator to the waterblock is the same which graces the X40. At face value, this wouldn’t be an issue except now its 16” long so crimping becomes an ever-present issue and the pump needs to cope with the increased distance.

To help adequately cool this large radiator NZXT has included two of their new high performance 140mm fans. These ‘liquid state’ (aka Fluid Dynamic) bearing-based FX 140LB fans are the same which are found on the Kraken X40. In other words, they should provide some incredible performance when paired up with such a large radiator.

The water block has also been refined over last Asetek designs and uses 90° connectors to mate the tubing and the water block together, making for an easier installation process. The base comes with pre-applied thermal paste while the quality of the finishing job is well above average.

The only fault that could possiblly be found with the waterblock design is the hardwired cables. While they are indeed sheathed in a tight mesh their length and quantity does make for a rather untidy appearance. In grand total there is a 3pin power connector, SATA power connector cable, a USB internal header connector cable and fan cable with four 4pin fan connector pigtails on it. The lack of an included Molex to SATA adapter is also a touch disappointing since some enthusiasts tend to use every available PSU SATA connector.